Tag: Moisturizer

I believe in many things; that your favorite sandwich tells a lot about you (mine is BLT for those wondering), that “positive vibes only” is a whole lot of fair-weather bullshit, and that taking care of your skin is basic care for everyone. Your skin is your largest organ; treat it as you would any other part of your body. You wouldn’t let your cardiovascular system go uncared for, so why would you let your integumentary system?

I will be the first to admit that all things considered, I am genetically #blessed with “good” skin. I rarely develop blemishes (and those that are tend to be either reactive to something I have worn or due to my bad habit of touching my face when frustrated), I generally don’t have a lot of discoloration, no acne, and the actual worst of it is some persistent redness.

I didn’t develop a skincare routine until I was 23, but even before this, my years of being a teenage hermit did me some good in the fact that I rarely exposed myself to sun and kept out of skin cancer and photo-aging’s way. But as I am now (said in Wayne’s voice from Wayne’s World) a little bit older and a little bit wiser, I do have a skincare routine set in place that I will eventually expand upon. It is not much of a routine, but it exists.

Today, though, are what I’ve gone through thus far this summer, now that I have a few things.

As I said before, I don’t have a particularly extensive routine and I generally don’t follow the Korean Beauty line of using 10-11 products in a given night. However, when I do use is tried and true for me and my dry, reactive skin. None of what I say here should be taken as a comprehensive review, but I’ll share what these products do for me and what role they fill in my skincare routine.

Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm – Facial Cleanser

I tend to use two cleansers to remove makeup or to clean my face. This particular one serves as my cleanser for removing facial makeup. I use a little bit of the Shiseido cotton rounds and swirl it in the tub (usually at the ends rather than the center), wet it, and begin to remove my makeup. I find this is not particularly drying and does a great job at not irritating my skin but doing the job in which it was intended when purchased.

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5% + HA 2% – Chemical Exfoliant

As a lizard woman, it is important for me to have a heat rock to digest, but also a chemical exfoliant to keep my flaky skin at bay. I prefer lactic acid to glycolic acid because it is much gentler and is much more effective at reducing my redness. I also tend to prefer a chemical exfoliant over a physical exfoliant out of concern for micro-tears in the skin and the simple fact it’s much easier to deal with; I just use the dropper (not my favorite method) onto a cotton round and lightly press into the skin and let it sink in for 20 minutes before moving on.

belif The True Cream – Moisturizing Bomb – Night Moisturizer

There are many things I generally do to keep the scale-skin at bay; I use a chemical exfoliant, I use moisturizer, I (sometimes) use oils, I use a nourishing primer, I use a water-based foundation. While all these things are nice, this is the only product that has really made a difference in my skin’s moisture levels (well, that, and actually drinking water.) I use it at night-time because it is a thicker cream, but once it’s on the skin, I don’t personally find it to be particularly heavy.

At some point, I will be doing a more thorough review on each of these products. All three of these are staples of mine and it certainly won’t be the last you hear of them from me.